Liverpool: Where is the club headed?

Over recent years, Liverpool have been in a downward spiral - but is it possible for them to return to their former glory?

The Golden Ages

Champions League winners, title contenders, securing a top four spot year-in, year-out. What happened?

Was it the loss of Rafa Benitez? Or was it the sale of Spanish talisman Fernando Torres which condemned them into a constant decline? Was it the purchasing of the club by Fenway Sports Group, which altered their success rate and caused a drought?

One can consider these possibilities, but if the truth be told, it's all of them collaborated which ultimately inspired the downfall of the famous club.

Benitez, an excellent manager, guided Valencia to the Spanish Liga BBVA trophy on two occasions, arrived at Liverpool fresh-faced, eager for the challenge of managing one of the world’s best.

He started off brightly, having decent campaigns all round. However, it was not until the famous Liverpool Champions League triumph did he make a serious name for himself.

In 2005, Liverpool reached the Champions League final, although the match was not going their way. 3-0 down at half-time meant that they were dead and buried, or so they thought.

It has been said that Benitez gave one of the most inspiring and sensational half-time speeches, which resulted in Liverpool redeeming themselves and making it 3-3 with Italian giants AC Milan.

They then went on to win the game on penalties. They repeated this the following year, but just fell short of bringing home the trophy. Benitez moved on and left Liverpool in urgent search for a new manager - they hired the likes of Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish but neither achieved anything spectacular (although, they did reel in the Carling Cup in the 2011/12 season).

Brendan Rogers has done a decent job so far, but surely Liverpool need to equip themselves with a world-class manager to challenge for major trophies in the future?

Fernando Torres & Steven Gerrard: The Dream Team

Torres had a few excellent seasons at Liverpool before being linked with a move to London side Chelsea.

The rumours were true and a record deal of £50 million went through. The Merseyside club went on to snap-up Newcastle star Andy Carroll for £35 million.

He failed to live up to his price tag and has since moved on to West Ham.

Liverpool resorted to purchasing Ajax superstar Luis Suarez - Suarez has had a few very good seasons but has also injected controversy and disgrace into his Liverpool career, perhaps making any potential transfer targets ward off interest from the club.

It seems since the departure of Torres, Liverpool have struggled with their strikers, thus resulting in less goals.

FSG buy Liverpool

Fenway Sports Group (also owners of the Boston Red Sox) bought the club with the aspiration of re-establishing it as a top club.

Sadly, their aspirations were short-lived when the Americans realised that this could not happen overnight.

They are continuing to work hard in order to rectify Liverpool’s descent as a club but their intentions are seemingly drifting further and further away from succeeding.

Perhaps the board aren’t making the right decisions, especially with their extremely lenient approach on the mishaps of their star man, Luis Suarez.

All of these factors contribute to the imminent downfall of the club, and changes need to take place very soon if they intend on redeeming their world-class status.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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